“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.”
Haile Selassie

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Brutal Honesty Breaks out at Indianapolis Council Meeting as TIF for the Wealthy Passes While TIF for the Poor is Tabled

The Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee had just approved the Midtown TIF traversing some of the wealthiest areas of the city. Then the Committee turned to considering a TIF for the Avondale/Meadows area, one of the most blighted sections of the city. The local residents there were trying to use the TIF funding mechanism to generate a tiny fraction of the money the Midtown TIF would raise. They simply wanted the money for infrastructure improvements to lure a local grocery store to the Avondale/Meadows area. Of course, TIFs are supposed to be about aiding blighted areas with development, not making the rich people of an area richer with more development.

At the conclusion of the public testimony, Democrat Steve Talley read
a prepared speech that basically stated there were too many unanswered
questions. He successfully moved to table the proposal. But Councilor Talley had actually been a co-sponsor of the measure.

Tabling
the issue, which had happened several times before, didn't set well
with the proposal's sponsor, Republican Christine Scales. A beautiful
thing then happened, something that doesn't happen at council meetings
very often - brutal honesty broke out. Councilor Scales concluded the
meeting with a splendid speech that pretty well sums up the nature of
Indianapolis politics, i.e. that it is the wealthy and powerful people
who get help from local government, not those who need help the most.

This is my favorite part of the speech, beginning at about 2:40:15:

[This action] affirms that people who are poor, people who are voiceless, the least of us, do not stand a chance to get what they need. They are getting the crumbs from the table, the crumbs."

About Me

I have been an attorney since the Fall of 1987. I have worked in every branch of government, including a stint as a Deputy Attorney General, a clerk for a judge on the Indiana Court of Appeals, and I have worked three sessions at the Indiana State Senate.
During my time as a lawyer, I have worked not only in various government positions, but also in private practice as a trial attorney handing an assortment of mostly civil cases.
I have also been politically active and run this blog in an effort to add my voice to those calling for reform.